Heretofore in automatic gain control circuits a large amplitude change in the regulated signal has caused the AGC loop to go into saturation. When this occurs the gain of the loop drops thereby causing the loop recovery time to be increased. During the recovery time the received signal can be lost due to insufficient gain by the variable gain amplifier or can be distorted due to excessive gain by the variable gain amplifier.
Therefore, there exists a need for an AGC circuit which can adapt the slew rate to the amplitude of the incoming signal to prevent saturation of the loop filter and reduce the recovery time of the loop to a minimum.